


Cosmic Latte

by the_genderman



Series: MCU College AU [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Body Positivity, Darcy has issues, F/F, Jane has issues, M/M, Sequel, Wow it's almost like the author is neurotic or something and it shows in the characterization, if that's a thing, reverse slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 13:58:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12772524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_genderman/pseuds/the_genderman
Summary: Sequel to No Use Crying Over Spilled Soup, so things might make a little more sense if you read that first, but it works as a stand-alone, too.Darcy gets the research assistantship with Jane that she really wanted. Now she just has to play it cool and not look like a creeper to her crush.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 8 earns the explicit rating, if you feel the need to skip it for any reason.
> 
> Also, this is my NaNo(vella)WriMo entry/thing.

Darcy let her laptop slide off her lap and onto the bed as she stifled an excited scream, hands covering her mouth. She rose abruptly to her knees then sat back down again. Her roommate, Alyssa, pulled one earbud out and turned around from her seat at her desk. She gave Darcy a silent, questioning look.

“They want to talk to me!” Darcy explained. “You know how I applied for the research assistant position for Jane Foster’s grad student research project? Well, her advisor, Dr. Selvig, just emailed me and said that both he and Jane think I could be a good fit, and they’d like to talk to me and make sure!”

“Hey, that’s cool,” Alyssa answered. “So, what would you be doing? I mean, other than ogling Jane the whole time.”

“Um, rude,” Darcy laughed. “Probably just data crunching, numbers and math, stuff like that. She’s doing something with black holes, or wormholes, or some kind of space holes. It sounds really interesting, even if I don’t quite get it yet. But I’m a quick learner and I’m good at crunching numbers.”

“Hey, it had to be asked,” Alyssa retorted. “You were PoliSci when we started as roommates when I was a freshman, and now you’re a physics major. We’ve all heard the story.”

“Yeah, yeah. But I’m good at it and I enjoy the work, so I think I finally made the right choice of major,” Darcy said. “I know you took geometry with Dr. Harbaugh last semester just ’cause you like his accent, so no judging.”

“If I have to take a math class for my gen eds, I’m gonna take it with someone I actually want to listen to, ok? I’m a communications major. Wrong side of the brain or something,” Alyssa said, popping her earbud back in and returning to her homework, ending the conversation.

Darcy returned to her laptop, righting it and clicking the reply button in her email to set up an interview time with Jane and Dr. Selvig. Her hands were trembling a little with excitement as she typed. This was real. This was _really_ real.

\---------------------------

Darcy slid into her seat in the lecture hall next to Bucky and gave him a smug look.

“Guess what?” she asked.

“How many guesses do I get?” Bucky asked back. “Is this a ‘three-guesses’ or a ‘twenty-questions’ type deal?”

“Just guess,” Darcy said.

“Is it animal, vegetable, or mineral?” Bucky grinned.

“Fine, it’s not twenty-questions.”

“Hmm, ok. I’m gonna guess… you won the lottery and will be paying off all your student loans.”

“Oh God, I wish,” Darcy said, rolling her eyes and slouching back into her chair. “I mean, I had a scholarship while I was a dance major, but I could certainly do with some cold, hard cash to pay off everything else. Guess again.”

“Ok. You managed to smuggle an industrial-sized box of Lucky Charms out of the cafeteria.”

“You’re not taking this seriously,” Darcy said, giving Bucky a shove to the shoulder.

“Yeah, well you just said ‘guess what?’ and didn’t give me any kind of starting point. What was I supposed to do?” Bucky countered.

“Fine,” Darcy said. “Well, you know I applied to be Jane’s research assistant for this summer, right? Well, her advisor emailed me and wants to set up and interview time. He and Jane think I’d be a good fit for her research.”

“Hey, that’s great!” Bucky said with genuine enthusiasm. “How are you feeling? Good? You think you’re up to actually talking to her?”

“I’d better be,” Darcy said. “I think since her advisor’s gonna be there, I’ll be more comfortable? I really want this position. And not only because it’s Jane, but also because it’ll look good on my resume and given my major-hopping, I need something positive on there like undergrad research credits to say, hey, I’m not actually a total flake. I’m 22 and I’m taking freshman classes. I’ve been at college for five years now and I’m still taking freshman classes.”

“You’re not a flake,” Bucky replied. “If you’re a flake, then what am I? I’m older than you and I only just started college last semester.”

“Yeah, but you had a pretty good excuse. All I did was futz around from class to class, not knowing what I wanted to do. You know how I was a political science major before this? Well, I only stuck with that for so long because I wasn’t too bad at it and it looked like I’d have pretty good job prospects after graduation, not because I particularly liked it.”

“But you like physics, right?”

“Yeah, I do, a lot.”

“Well, you just took a bit longer to figure things out. Not everyone’s ready to decide the rest of their life at age 17 or 18.”

“When did you come over all philosophical?” Darcy asked, giving Bucky a probing look.

“I guess Steve and Sam are rubbing off on me,” Bucky shrugged.

“Steve’s a painter and Sam’s a social work major, neither of them are even taking any philosophy classes,” Darcy replied, but at that moment their professor finally arrived, eight minutes late, so she and Bucky quieted down to get ready to take some notes.


	2. Chapter 2

“And for my last question, unless Jane has any more…?” Dr. Selvig asked, turning briefly to Jane, who shook her head no. “Alright. My last question. Please tell me, briefly, why we should choose you. Why are you the best candidate for this position?”

“Well,” Darcy said, squirming a little in the plastic chair, its uneven legs shifting and clicking on the floor. She forced herself to calm down a bit. “I’m a really good note-taker, I’m good with numbers, I can get you my transcript or you could talk to any of my pre-calc or calculus professors. I think space is pretty cool, and even if I don’t know a whole lot about black holes, I’m a quick learner, I like learning. And you’re going to be doing your research in New Mexico? I’m from New Mexico, so I wouldn’t have as far to travel.”

At that last point, Dr. Selvig’s eyebrow rose skeptically. Darcy could feel herself beginning to blush a little. Why had she said that? That was stupid, not pertinent to the topic. What did it matter if she was from New Mexico? If there was a better candidate who lived in China, it wouldn’t make a difference that she was from the state where the research was going to happen. Now they just think you’re weird. She uncrossed her ankles and recrossed them in the other direction, smiling and pretending like she hadn’t just said something stupid.

“Thank you,” Dr. Selvig said, his face staying a practiced neutral. He turned to Jane again. “Well, if you’re satisfied, I think we can let Miss Lewis get back to the rest of her classes.”

“Yes, thank you,” Jane said, rising to her feet. “I think we’ll be able to make a decision before too much longer, so keep an eye out for the email. We’ll let you know whether you got the position or not; if it were me, I think I’d like to know, either way, so I wouldn’t have to worry any longer than I needed to.” She offered her hand to Darcy to shake.

“Oh yes, thank you,” Darcy said, quickly wiping her hand on her jacket to dry her palm. No need to gross Jane out with a sweaty, nervous handshake. “Um, have a nice rest of the day.”

Darcy turned quickly as soon as Jane released her hand and she scooted out of the room. The door clicked shut loudly behind her.

\-----

Dr. Selvig leaned back into his chair and shook his head. He opened his laptop and scrolled through his emails for a moment or two before turning back to Jane.

“I don’t suppose you’ve had any more applications that I don’t know about, have you?” he asked.

“Nope,” Jane answered. “Darcy was the only one to apply.”

Dr. Selvig sighed and closed his laptop again. “Jane. I know I’ve said how important it is to find something you _enjoy_ for your research project, but it also helps if you pick something less obscure. Einstein-Rosen bridges? That’s a very advanced topic, and while I’m sure you’re quite capable of contributing meaningfully to this field of research, to be blunt, there are very few undergrad students who even know what an Einstein-Rosen bridge _is_ , much less want to research them. If you’re serious about this topic of research, then it looks like Miss Lewis is our only option, and I am somewhat hesitant to bring her on. I don’t think she’s taking this very seriously.”

“Well, she was the only applicant, I need an assistant, and if she doesn’t work out, then we’ll at least be in her home state,” Jane said, collecting her backpack and shuffling her papers back into it. “Besides. We’ve got the rest of the semester to feel things out, meetings and stuff. If at any point I don’t think she’ll work out, then I’ll let you know.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Dr. Selvig said, standing up and sliding his laptop into its carrying case.

“No, actually, I’m _not_ sure,” Jane admitted. “But I’m willing to give her a chance.”


	3. Chapter 3

Darcy climbed the stairs to Bucky’s floor of the residence hall, hugging her backpack. She had decided to spare Alyssa another evening of the random excited squeaks that happened whenever she remembered the confirmation email that she had received two days ago. She was officially Jane’s research assistant! Officially! She was still over the moon about it. Yeah, she knew she’d have to tone things down a bit, but she could do it. She _knew_ that she could.

She knocked on the door. Bucky answered.

“Oh, hey Darcy. Come on in,” He said, stepping back to let her enter the room. “Find a seat somewhere if you can, we’re a bit full at the moment.”

Bucky went back to his bed and sat down next to Steve. He nudged Clint’s legs out of the way again. (“Look, dude, top bunk means not putting your feet in my face, remember?” “You got up. I stretched.” Clint pulled his legs up and crossed them despite his protests.) Natasha was sitting in Clint’s desk chair because the desk gave her somewhere to set her drink down. Darcy glanced around at everyone then pulled Bucky’s chair out and scooted it up in front of the bunk beds, but not in anyone’s way. She sat down, putting one arm over the back of the chair and twisting around in the seat to look at everyone again.

“So, what’re we all doing?” she asked.

“We were doing Basic Cable and Chill,” Bucky replied, “but the movie ended right before you got here. You here to study or chill?”

“Well, I know I brought my backpack, but I could do either. I came over mostly to give Alyssa a break. I told you I got the position, right? That I’m _officially_ Jane’s research assistant now?”

“Oh, hey, congrats,” Steve said. Natasha and Clint nodded their agreement.

“So you’ve come to bombard us with your feelings?” Bucky laughed.

“It’s extremely probable,” Darcy admitted.

“That’s fair. Anyone want to escape while the escaping’s good?” Bucky asked.

“Hey! I remember how you got for that first week or so after Steve played knight in shining armor and swept you off your feet in front of the art building douche-bros,” Darcy said, looking pointedly at Bucky. Both Bucky and Steve began to blush.

“Ok, let’s turn the TV back on,” Bucky said, making a grab for the remote.

Natasha took advantage of the awkward silence to speak up. “So, Darcy, you think you’re ready to talk to Jane the same way you talk to any of us? You remember what I told you last December at the engineers’ finals party?”

“Uhh, remember to breathe, don’t put her on a pedestal, and don’t squeal?”

“Well, that’s a good start, anyway,” Natasha shrugged. “Keep it casual. Don’t try to subtly ask her out. No offense, but you are about as subtle as a tuba—”

“Was that a jab at my size?” Darcy interrupted.

“No, of course not, I wouldn’t do that,” Natasha said. “I thought you knew me better than that.”

“Force of habit,” Darcy explained. “Well, I _did_ play tuba in high school marching band.”

“Of course you did,” Bucky snort-laughed.

“I was talking,” Natasha said.

“Sorry, go on,” Steve said, putting his hand over Bucky’s mouth and nudging Darcy in the shoulder with his toes. (Bucky licked Steve’s hand, causing him to jump and squeak a little, then Steve pushed Bucky down onto the bed and climbed on top of him, finding a different way to shut him up. “Ew, get a room,” Darcy teased. Natasha gave her an annoyed ‘may I continue?’ look. Darcy nodded in reply.)

“Yes. So, in continuation. Don’t ask her out unless you’re _absolutely_ sure she’s interested too, and even then, it might not be such a great idea, since you’ve got the entire spring semester and then the summer research term to get through. And if you’re not absolutely sure, you don’t want to make her uncomfortable. One, because it’s just not nice, and two, because you’ll probably get replaced like that” Natasha snapped her fingers “and lose your chance at both your research credits and any kind of friendly relationship with Jane. A lot of people get weird when they find out that they’re on the awkward end of an uneven crush. You think you could be happy with just a platonic relationship with her?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Darcy said, glancing down at her feet. “I mean, I _hope_ so, but I’ve been crushing on her for about a year now, and it’s not getting any less.”

“That’s rough, but that’s life, right? Unless you’re ace, you’re probably gonna have these kinds of feelings for the rest of your life, and you might as well learn to deal with them now,” Natasha suggested, ever pragmatic.


	4. Chapter 4

One month into her assistantship and Darcy was starting to feel pretty relaxed, actually. Jane did most of the talking, explaining her project, leaving Darcy to absorb the information and ask questions when she needed a little more clarification. Just like class, but on a much smaller scale. She could totally handle this. And besides, Dr. Selvig was there, ‘chaperoning’ for lack of a better term, always sitting off to the side of the classroom, grading papers and occasionally poking his head up to keep an eye on his advisee and her assistant. Things were pretty good. She was talking to Jane like she would any of her other classmates (maybe not like she’d talk to Bucky or Clint or Natasha yet, but baby steps) and Dr. Selvig’s watchful eye discouraged her less inhibited side from saying things to Jane that she might regret.

Walking back to the dining hall that evening for dinner after their meeting, Darcy decided to ask a question while Dr. Selvig wasn’t around.

“Hey, Jane, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure. Remembered what you wanted to ask about earlier?”

“No, that’s not it,” Darcy said. “It’s about Dr. Selvig. I get the feeling that he doesn’t like me all that much. I mean, I know I passed the interview and he said that he thought I’d be a good fit, but he just kind of looks at me like he’s judging me. Is he like that with everyone? I haven’t had any classes with him yet to be able to tell.”

“Really? No, he’s not usually like that. Is he making you uncomfortable?” Jane replied. “Because I can talk to him. He might not like it, but if I ask him to give us some space for our meetings, he will.”

“But he’s your advisor? Doesn’t he need to be there?” Darcy was conflicted. She didn’t want to get Jane in trouble with her advisor, but a little part deep inside her _did_ want to spend some time alone with her. In whatever form it might take.

“As long as I keep him up to date, turn in minutes, or notes, or whatever of what we discussed, it should be fine. Yeah, he’s my advisor, but he’s also my dad’s best friend. I’ve known him for pretty much my entire life; he trusts me,” Jane explained. “He can get a little overprotective at times, but he trusts me.”

“Overprotective?” Darcy said, stifling a squeak, mind flipping back over everything she’d said at all the previous meetings. She hadn’t started _flirting_ , had she? “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, sorry, maybe ‘overprotective’ wasn’t the right word to use,” Jane said, looking a little flustered, herself. “But, not entirely? I really got into astrophysics because of him, actually. My dad used to be a bit of an amateur astronomer, and Erik—Dr. Selvig—would come over and visit and talk shop with him some nights when I was a kid. He’s the one who picked up on my interest in the topic (to be fair to my dad, I think he just thought everyone was naturally as big of a space nerd as him) and thought I had a pretty good grasp on some ideas you wouldn’t expect a pre-teen to be interested in. So, tee-ell-dee-arr, he’s a family friend, and he values my opinions. If he’s making you uncomfortable, or if there’s anything you feel maybe a little too shy to say directly to him, let me know, and I’ll pass it along.”

They reached the dining hall, and Jane hurried ahead to grab the door for her.

“Thanks,” Darcy managed to say, meaning both for holding the door and for Jane’s little speech. She hoped it was clear enough.

“No problem,” Jane replied with a smile. “It’s kind of your project, too now, so I want you to enjoy it and feel comfortable with it.”

Darcy smiled and ducked her head in thanks, turning away, she hoped, before Jane caught sight of the cherry-red blush creeping across her face. “Oh, hey, there’s my friends,” she said, pointing vaguely into the cafeteria. “I’ll see you next week, same time.”

“Looking forward to it,” Jane said as she turned to go.

Darcy thought she sounded like she actually meant it.


	5. Chapter 5

Jane let herself back into her apartment, dropped her backpack next to the coatrack and headed into the kitchen, fully intending to grab something quick and easy like a bowl of cereal and quietly hide in her bedroom for the rest of the evening with the homework she wanted to deal with and the feelings (question mark?) that she didn’t really want to. Instead she found Karen (one of her roommates) and Matt (Karen’s on-again-off-again, but possibly off-again again very soon, boyfriend) already in the kitchen, arguing.

“Why do you keep putting the orange juice away empty? I _know_ you can tell it’s empty” Karen was saying.

Matt just shrugged. “It’s not empty; I can hear it sloshing. There’s a couple sips left.”

“And what good is that?”

“Easy, you pour that off, then you open the next carton, and fill your glass the rest of the way. I even bought a new carton so you could do that.”

“Why didn’t you finish the old one off?”

“I had the perfect amount of juice, why would I take more just to finish it off?”

“Because it’s better than putting an empty carton away?” Karen said, flinging her arms open in emphasis.

“No it isn’t, but we have an audience. I’m gonna go now and stop annoying your roommate,” Matt said, pulling his coat on and unfolding his cane. “Hey, Jane,” he added as he passed her on the way out.

“Helloandgoodbye,” Jane answered hurriedly as he left, pulling the door behind him.

“Hi, Jane. Sorry you had to witness that,” Karen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She went back to the fridge and pulled out the second carton of orange juice. Opening the freezer, she poked around until she found the vodka. “I think I need a screwdriver. I swear, that man is more trouble than he’s worth most of the time, but he’s gonna make a damn good lawyer. Oh, thanks,” she said, noticing the glass that Jane was holding out to her. She made her screwdriver, threw away the now definitely empty juice carton, and sat down at the table. 

Jane found some cereal, gave the milk a sniff, judged it ‘ok’ and poured herself a bowl. She sat down across from Karen. “So, sort of on the topic of you and Matt. Can I ask you a relationship question?”

“Oh God no,” Karen said, running her fingers through her hair. “Don’t talk to me about relationships, I’m dealing with enough between Matt and myself right now. Go bug Claire when she gets back from class.”

“Ehhh,” Jane wavered, shifting in her seat. “Remember my breakup at the end of last spring semester? I kinda used up all my Get out of Jail Free cards with her back then. I don’t know if she wants to keep handing out relationship advice.”

“Well, all I’ve got is don’t date a lawyer or a law student or anyone else who argues for a living,” Karen said, tipping back her drink. “Seriously, Claire’s good with people; ask her. Bribe her with cheesecake if you have to.”

\-----------------------------

Jane waited until Claire had gotten her school stuff put away before she approached her with her question. She knocked on the open bedroom door as Claire was switching out her textbooks for the next day’s classes. Claire looked up.

“Hey, Jane. You know you don’t have to knock, right? It’s your room, too,” Claire said.

“Yeah, but I thought I should probably give you a little warning before I just start laying things out,” Jane said, walking in and sitting down on the edge of her bed.

“Oh, no. Please tell me it’s not more boy (or girl) trouble—you’ve got that look,” Claire said, sitting down on her bed to face Jane. “You remember what I said after you broke up with whatshisface? That I was going to start charging you for relationship advice?”

“I remember. What’s your going rate? What do you want?”

“What I _really_ want is enough sleep, but I can’t ask you to study for me to make that happen.”

“What if I could convince Karen to trade rooms with you so you get the single? I know it’s tiny and probably actually supposed to be a closet, but you wouldn’t have to share with either of us so maybe you might sleep better,” Jane offered.

“You’re really serious, aren’t you?” Claire said, laughing a little. “No, you don’t have to get Karen to trade me rooms. How about you buy me breakfast before class tomorrow? I’m kind of tired of oatmeal and toaster waffles. So who’s the new person?”

“Her name’s Darcy. I don’t think you know her,” Jane said, actually admitting it out loud. “She’s my research assistant. I haven’t told her yet because I’m not entirely sure what to do. My problem is that I don’t know if this is real, or if I’m just rebounding and it’s playing off the fact that I know she’s a lesbian and single and off of my ‘I’m swearing off men forever’ moment, you know the one.”

“Yes, I do,” Claire said, shaking her head a little. “I mean, I wouldn’t say I know you as well as a b.f.f. or a therapist might, but you don’t seem prone to rebounds. Picking emotionally unavailable guys who can’t give you what you want? Yes. Rebounding? No.” She paused. “Wait, did you say she’s your research assistant?”

“Yeah,” Jane answered.

“Yeah, no. That’s a whole ‘nother situation,” Claire replied quickly. “It’s not quite a teacher-student deal, but similar enough. Uneven playing field. My advice is _don’t_ act on your feelings. You don’t want her to feel coerced into reciprocating; she might feel like if she says no, then she’ll lose the assistantship and the credits for the research.”

“But I would _never_ do that!” Jane said, a little indignation rising in her voice. “She got the position fair and square. Ok, she was the only applicant, but she actually seems interested in my topic, so even if there had been other applicants, she’d still have been up there. And I’m not just saying this because I kinda like her. This is a pretty new feeling that I don’t think I had when we were interviewing.”

“Does she know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t?” Claire said pointedly.

Jane opened her mouth to speak, but stopped. She closed it again and dipped her head, pensive. “No, I guess not,” she finally replied. “She already thinks that Dr. Selvig doesn’t really like her, so I probably shouldn’t do anything to make her even more uncomfortable. You’ve got a good point.”

“A good enough point to get me a breakfast at The Grey Dog?” Claire asked with a grin.

“Yeah, I _wish_ ,” Jane laughed. “There’s no way we could get a table there before classes tomorrow. I’ll do anywhere that’s not unreasonably busy. Where else do you want to go?”


	6. Chapter 6

The next month progressed surprisingly smoothly. Darcy was feeling quite confident indeed in her newfound friendship with Jane. Not friends-with-benefits, just friends. And she was somehow actually happy with this. Well-adjusted? Her? She’d take it while it lasted.

Jane was managing fairly well, too. Her little crush on Darcy wasn’t exactly going away, but she’d live. The better Jane got to know Darcy, the more she realized just how right Claire had been to tell her not to act on her crush. On the surface Darcy looked like a loud, somewhat shallow, bubbly dork with a lack of social poise, but Jane was getting a sense that it was a mask she put on around strangers. And, around her, she was letting it slip, whether she realized it or not. Underneath she was a lot shyer, less confident in herself, but clearly intelligent, and when she found something she liked, she put herself into it body and soul.

Even Dr. Selvig was doing fairly well. At Jane’s request, he had grudgingly agreed to step back a bit and take a more ‘observational’ role for a while. And he had to admit, even if Darcy wasn’t his first choice of research assistant and he still thought she wasn’t being completely serious, she _was_ a quick learner and asked good questions about Jane’s research. The cohesion of their little group was looking pretty good for an in-depth, out-of-state research project.

\--------------

Darcy might call it fate or fatalism, but anything going this well for this long was bound to explode, sooner or later. So she wasn’t surprised when it happened. (She certainly wasn’t _happy_ that it happened, but she wasn’t surprised.) It had started with “Hey, I’m sorry to call you so late, but I had an idea…” and ended with the pure, distilled essence of embarrassment of Darcy ending the call with an unthinking “…love you too.” As soon as she hit the end call button, it hit her what she had done. She stared at her phone where it sat in her hand, mocking her. She screamed quietly.

“While I appreciate your efforts to try to be quiet, that was still piercing, and it’s still 10:30 pm,” Alyssa sighed. “Good scream or bad scream?”

“Bad scream, very bad scream,” Darcy replied automatically, barely registering her own words.

“I take it you weren’t supposed to end that little technical chat with a ‘love you too’?”

“Very much not.”

“So, now what? You bury yourself under your duvet in shame and emerge only for meals and classes and showers?”

“Probably.”

“Should I go find one of your friends to come talk you down?” Alyssa asked, not entirely joking.

“No, but thank you. I’m only figuratively dying of embarrassment,” Darcy said, plugging her phone in to charge for the night and, for good measure, burying it under her scarf and beanie so she wouldn’t have to look at it. “I really did say that, didn’t I?”

“Yep. You certainly did,” Alyssa confirmed.

Darcy screamed again, a little more quietly than before, put her glasses in their case, and flopped face-first down into her pillow. “Good night,” she mumbled.

“G’night,” Alyssa replied and turned off the lights.

\----------------------------

Jane sat on the couch, replaying her conversation with Darcy in her head. Had Darcy really ended the call with ‘love you too’ or was she just too tired to think straight? She didn’t exactly have anyone else she could ask (and if the NSA was listening, they’d be unlikely to be willing to weigh in). She _could_ ask Darcy, but… No. Bad idea. Safest to just put it out of her mind, to believe that she had misheard due to lack of sleep these past few days.

\---------------------------------

The next day, Darcy took her freak-out to a larger audience.

“You may be wondering why I called you all to this panic attack,” she began.

Sam raised his hand. “Yeah, considering I don’t actually know you, why did I receive an invitation to this?”

Steve shrugged. “You’re my friend, I’m Bucky’s friend, and Bucky is Darcy’s friend. It made sense at the time. She can be very persuasive.”

“Yeah, partly that, and partly that you’re a social work major who’s got a few psych classes under your belt, so if anyone here’s gonna be good with people, it’s you,” Darcy said, addressing Sam.

Sam looked first at Bucky, then to Steve. Steve put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “In my defense, she just _knows_ things,” Steve said.

“Alright, good practice, I guess. I’m listening.”

Darcy looked around the room with nervous expectation, then began. “I need your advice.”

“My advice: don’t do the thing,” Clint interrupted with a grin.

“Too late, I already did the thing,” Darcy answered quickly, getting back on track. “I called Jane last night with some ideas for her—our?—research project and I kinda accidentally ended the call with ‘love you too.’ What do I do now?”

“Did she say anything about it?” Steve raised his hand and asked.

“No, and I haven’t talked to her since; our next meeting is tomorrow afternoon and I haven’t had a reason to call her again. Part of me wants to believe she didn’t say anything because it didn’t quite register, but what if she didn’t say anything because I weirded her out too much?”

“The most practical thing to do would be go to your meeting as if you hadn’t realized what you said and see how she acts,” Natasha offered. “Sometimes we say things on autopilot that we don’t give enough thought to. It happens.”

“I agree with…” Sam began, then turned to Natasha and gave her an ‘I don’t actually know your name’ look. Natasha supplied him the answer. “Natasha. I agree with Natasha. Play it cool, see how she reacts. You’ve worked with her for how long now?”

“Two months,” Darcy answered. “But she was my TA last spring semester, and, well, I also kinda not-exactly-stalked her last semester, trying to work up the courage to talk to her. But don’t worry, I never crossed any boundaries I shouldn’t have, and I don’t do that anymore.”

“Ok, so I’m going to interpret that as meaning you know how she acts normally,” Sam replied, narrowing his eyes. “If she says something about it, then obviously she noticed. If she doesn’t say anything but also doesn’t act any differently, then you might be worrying unnecessarily. If she doesn’t say anything, but starts acting differently in a way that can’t be attributed to midterms or whatever grad students do instead of midterms, then maybe gently work it into your conversation. Apologize for it if she seems uncomfortable. If you act like it was just a simple slip, which it probably was before you started overthinking it, things should be fine. If you start freaking out, then she probably _will_ get weirded out.”

“That. That’s smart. See? This is why I invited you,” Darcy said. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Sam replied, glancing towards the door.

“I know I probably don’t need any more advice after that, but does anyone else have anything to add? No? Ok, class dismissed,” Darcy said, bringing her hands together.

Everyone stood up much at the same time and filed towards the door. Sam could be heard quietly letting Bucky know that he deserved a nice, stiff drink for being dragged into this. Bucky agreed to bring him whatever he wanted, within reason price-wise.

“I hope it all works out for you,” Natasha said, catching Darcy on her way out. “I know you’ve put in a lot of work, and you’re doing well, even with this little slip. It happens to everyone. Take Sam’s advice and don’t let it eat away at you.”


	7. Chapter 7

The best laid plans of mice and men, or something like that, Darcy thought. She and Jane had both reached for the same calculator at the same time, resulting in her placing her hand directly on top of Jane’s. Startled, she withdrew her hand and looked up to see Jane looking distinctly flustered and beginning to blush. Jane pulled her hand back quickly, holding it in her other hand like she’d burned herself. Darcy’s brain immediately began a litany of ‘youfuckedup’ interspersed with an occasional ‘sheknowsandshehatesyounow.’ About the only plus side to this was that Dr. Selvig wasn’t present to see this faux pas. 

“I’msorryI’mgonnagonow!” Darcy’s words spilled out rapidly as she started stuffing her papers haphazardly back into her backpack. She pulled the zipper mostly shut and turned to leave.

“Wait!” Jane called after her.

Darcy kept going, escaping into the hallway, walking fast and pulling her beanie further down over her ears, the skein of invisible ‘youfuckedup’s trailing after her.

“Darcy, stop!” Jane called after her, her voice carrying both authority and a plea. She started down the hallway after Darcy.

Darcy didn’t stop. Jane broke into a jog to catch up with her. She got in front of Darcy and turned around to face her while blocking her path.

“What is _wrong_ with you?” Jane asked, confusion and frustration mingling in her voice.

“Where would you like me to start?” Darcy asked sarcastically.

Jane paused for a moment, silently scrutinizing her research assistant. “Are you ok? Do you need me to call someone for you?” she asked more gently. “Do you want to talk about whatever’s bothering you? I mean, I’m not a psychiatrist or anything, but I’m here.”

Darcy looked away, her face unsure, but she didn’t try to move around Jane.

“Could we at least take whatever this is back into the classroom? I know it’s late and there’s not as many people around, but there’s still a few classes going on right now,” Jane said, lowering her voice. “Let’s go back before they let out, or before anyone pokes their head into the hallway to see what the fuss is about.”

“Alright, yeah, sure,” Darcy said resignedly. She resettled her backpack on her shoulders and turned to follow Jane back.

\-----

Jane closed the door behind her and watched Darcy slump into a chair, dropping her backpack heavily on the floor next to her. Something had gone very wrong, very quickly, and she could only assume it was something she had done, something she had accidentally triggered, for the response to be this fast and this extreme. Only problem, she couldn’t think what it could have been; she’d have to hope that Darcy would be willing to open up. Jane sat back down at the table across from her.

“I’m going to start off by saying I must have done something to upset you and I’m sorry. I don’t know what it was, but if you’re willing to tell me what I did, I’m willing to try to do better about it. Does that sound like a good start?” Jane asked.

“I didn’t mean to say ‘love you too,’ it just kinda slipped out. I’d take it back, but you can’t take back words once they’ve been said,” Darcy mumbled. Jane leaned in closer to hear her better. “I mean, I guess I always hoped you’d _somehow_ like me too, but let’s be realistic. It’s been like five years since I actually dated anyone (and that was _before_ I came out), and it’s not entirely for lack of trying. I lost friends after I came out because they were worried that I’d start hitting on them. No, really. One girl told me flat-out that she and I couldn’t be friends anymore because she was afraid I’d ‘get the wrong idea’ about her if we did any of the usual things teenage girls do like platonically hugging your friends. I get it. No one wants to date the weird, loud, fat lesbian. No one wants to think about someone like me possibly being attracted to them. I understand that you wouldn’t want me touching you after accidentally telling you that I like you.”

“What? No, that’s not it,” Jane said quickly. ‘Who hurt you?’ she wanted to add. “Darcy, no. That is not what’s happening here, I promise. I’m not upset about you being attracted to me. I like you. Yes like _that_ ,” she added, seeing Darcy’s skeptical expression. “And even if I didn’t, I’m a big girl. I can deal with life as it comes. But back to me liking you. You’re smart, you’re curious, you want to know things, and yeah, you’re pretty, too. I didn’t pull my hand back because I didn’t want you touching me, I did it because I like you too and I didn’t want you to think that I was pressuring you in any way. You’re my assistant, so I have a position of power over you, and because of that, I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, like there’d be negative consequences if you turned me down. I didn’t know you liked me, too.”

“You _actually_ like me?” Darcy asked, lifting her head up and looking hopefully at Jane. “This isn’t some kind of bad joke? You really do like me?”

“Yes, I really actually do like you,” Jane nodded. She reached out and took Darcy’s hands in hers to emphasize her point.

“Well, I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into,” Darcy said with a weak laugh.

“Not in the slightest,” Jane replied with a grin.

“Well, then we can figure this out together, huh?” Darcy said, finally smiling again.


	8. Chapter 8

Barely more than a week later and Darcy and Jane were attempting to make some alone-time together. Jane had an apartment, but with said apartment came a roommate, a second housemate, and the housemate’s on-again again boyfriend, so Darcy’s dorm looked like the better option. Darcy ‘casually’ asked Alyssa if she might be able to spend the night at a friend’s house or apartment or dorm or something, or even just go for an all-night club-hop sometime soon. Alyssa had given her a knowing look, and checked her planner.

“Well, I guess I could go see my parents this weekend,” Alyssa hemmed. “They’ve been pestering me to come home and visit for a while now.”

“See? It’s gonna work out perfectly,” Darcy said.

“Just don’t forget to air the room out before I get back, ok?”

“Girl Scout’s honor.”

“Don’t ‘Girl Scout’s honor’ me like _your_ troop never set things on fire. No scented candles. Febreeze and an open window should work fine.”

\------------------------------

“You sure you’re ready for this?” Darcy asked, opening the door and gesturing into her dorm like a gameshow model. Jane stepped inside and Darcy pulled the door shut after them.

“Definitely ready,” Jane grinned back. She set her purse on Darcy’s desk, slipped her jacket off, and hung it over the back of Darcy’s desk chair. 

Darcy followed suit, tossing her jacket haphazardly into her closet, unwinding her scarf, and setting it and her beanie onto her desk next to Jane’s purse.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve actually seen you not wearing your scarf and hat before,” Jane commented.

“Wanna see me wearing even less?” Darcy teased.

“Whenever _you’re_ ready,” Jane replied, walking over to Darcy’s side and leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

Darcy unfastened her jeans and stepped out of them, then paused. “Actually, uhh, could I ask you to go first?” She asked Jane. “I don’t really like the idea of keeping my glasses on for the whole thing (glasses are hella expensive and I don’t wanna risk breaking them), and I wanna get to see you not-blurry for as long as I can.”

“Yeah, sure, I can do that,” Jane laughed.

Darcy kicked her jeans into her closet and sat down on the edge of her bed to watch. Jane slowly unbuttoned her shirt, giving Darcy a peek at the bright red bra she had chosen specifically for this night. Leaving the shirt on her shoulders but open down the front, she bent over to step out of her pants. She placed them over her jacket on the chair and shimmied her shirt off her shoulders, adding it to the stack. She stepped back in front of Darcy and slowly slid one bra-strap down her shoulder.

“Aw, look, you match,” Darcy commented. “If I’d had more time, I might have been able to find a cute bra, but it takes a lot of hunting to find anything in my size that’s not unadorned white, beige, or gray. Would it kill them to offer some colorful options? Or even an occasional lacy ruffle?”

“Well, I’m sure you still look fantastic in your unadorned white, beige, or gray bra,” Jane said.

“Thanks,” Darcy blushed. Being careful with her glasses, she pulled her shirt over her head.

Jane countered by unclasping her bra and tossing it in the general direction of the rest of her clothes. Darcy’s breath caught audibly. Jane hooked her thumbs into the elastic of her panties, slid them down her hips and let them drop to the floor. She hooked them up with one foot and flung them towards her clothes. She stepped closer to Darcy, placed a hand on her cheek, and leaned in to kiss her again, but on the lips this time. Darcy responded eagerly.

Jane lifted her hands to hover by the arms of Darcy’s glasses. “May I?” she asked. Darcy nodded a yes and Jane gently slipped them off her face and placed them into their case. “Your turn,” Jane added, stepping back a bit to let Darcy stand up again.

“Oh! Yeah, sorry,” Darcy said quickly, sliding back down off her bed and removing her underwear. She reached behind her back to unhook her bra, briefly wondering how _everything_ about Jane managed to be so perfect. Jane probably didn’t even _need_ a bra, she thought; her breasts were small but nicely shaped. Darcy crossed her arms over her chest involuntarily.

“Shy?” Jane asked. “We can stop if you’ve changed your mind.”

“Nah,” Darcy said, shaking her head and dropping her arms again. “It’s just, well, look at you, then look at me. You’re perfect.”

Jane glanced down, following Darcy’s gaze. “Ah, well, I wouldn’t quite say ‘perfect.’ I wouldn’t mind if they were a bit bigger.”

“Bigger’s not really better. Like I said, bra shopping sucks ass. Also: boys, you can’t wear button-down shirts, boys, back pain, and did I mention boys?”

“I _may_ have heard the word said,” Jane teased, trying to raise Darcy’s spirits again. She sat down on Darcy’s bed, scooting back towards the wall and opening her legs into a wide V. “And don’t worry, I like you for a lot more than just your boobs. You’ve got a very nice brain, face, hair, the rest of your body—your whole self, you know. Now how about you come sit in my lap and I can show you how much I like your whole you? But starting with your boobs.”

Darcy giggled and climbed back onto her bed, scooting up between Jane’s legs. Jane leaned up against her, pulling Darcy’s hair back, settling forward it over one shoulder. Darcy felt Jane’s breasts pressed against her back. She gave a little involuntary whine that became a moan as Jane’s arms wrapped around her, hands finding their way to her breasts. Jane’s fingers kneaded gently, a bit like a cat. Jane kissed lightly at the base of Darcy’s neck, prompting her to tip her head forward. Darcy watched Jane’s hands through half-closed eyes, still not entirely believing her luck. She raised her own hands, placing them on top of Jane’s and slotting their fingers together. 

Jane slid her hands down, following the curve of Darcy’s breasts, passing over her stomach, and down her hips. She stroked her hands up and down Darcy’s thighs, petting and caressing, murmuring little endearments as her fingers crept further down between her legs. Darcy unwound her fingers from Jane’s

“Should I keep going?” Jane asked.

“Yes, please,” Darcy replied eagerly.

“Ok, just checking. You pulled your hands back, I wanted to be sure.”

“Well, me touching myself isn’t exactly new and exciting, so I wanted it to be just you for our first time together.”

“How romantic,” Jane murmured.

“Contrary to popular belief, I _am_ capable of being subdued about things sometimes. However, ‘romantic’ is quickly being replaced by ‘I’m really horny so please put your fingers in me’,” Darcy teased.

“Yes ma’am,” Jane teased back.

Darcy parted her legs and Jane drew her hand up Darcy’s inner thigh, fingers coming to rest briefly on top of her labia before sliding between them, warm and slippery-wet. Darcy gave a gasp that turned into a high moan as Jane’s first two fingers pushed inside her, curling and finding the sweet spot. She dipped her thumb between Darcy’s labia, slicking it up before sliding up to rub her clit. Darcy’s hands rose to her breasts and she began to fondle her nipples as Jane continued her two-pronged attack. 

Jane felt Darcy clench down around her fingers as she came (and of _course_ she was a screamer). Jane stroked her gently through the orgasm, watching her chest rise and fall, hands still on her breasts as she panted.

“Ohmigod,” Darcy finally managed. “Ohmigod. This is real, right? This really just happened?”

“Yep, it’s real,” Jane answered, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

“Oh, good,” Darcy grinned, twisting around to better face Jane. “So what do you want me to do for you now?”

“Uhhh,” Jane blanked. “What would you like to do?”

“You sure you don’t have any preferences?”

“Whatever you choose, I’m sure it’ll be great.”

“This is too much responsibility,” Darcy laughed.

“Well, I’ve only ever been with guys before,” Jane shrugged.

“To be honest, same,” Darcy replied.

“Then think about it this way: this is your chance to try out whatever it is you’ve always wanted to do.”

“Well, in that case,” Darcy said, scooting off the bed and rooting around her desk to find a hair-tie, “how about you lay down up at the head of the bed and get comfortable.”

Jane did as asked, laying down with her head on Darcy’s pillow and her hands behind her head. She stretched her legs out straight, parted just a little, waiting for Darcy to decide what she wanted to do. Darcy climbed back onto the bed, straddling Jane’s hips, and dipping down to kiss her, starting with her mouth and moving downwards. Jane lifted her knees and opened her legs as Darcy wrapped her arms around her thighs and leaned in. Darcy moaned a little as she slid her tongue between Jane’s labia. Jane moaned as Darcy began to suck at her clit. 

“Oh, that’s good,” Jane gasped out. 

Darcy gave Jane’s thighs a little squeeze and kept sucking.

With a stifled cry, Jane came, her hips lifting off the bed. She glanced down at Darcy, who looked like she was very much enjoying being face-down in her crotch. Darcy resurfaced, licking her lips and smiling broadly.

“How was that?” Darcy asked.

“Very good. A+ work,” Jane giggled.


	9. Chapter 9

Jane was pretty sure she had tried to read this one paragraph at least six times, and yet could recall nothing from it. She sighed. Claire turned and looked pointedly at her.

“You know, when I said don’t act on your feelings, I didn’t mean sit around pining like the heroine in a Victorian romance novel,” Claire said.

“I’m not pining,” Jane argued.

“Well, if you’re not pining, then I’d recommend setting up a doctor’s appointment for your lungs, because you’ve been sighing almost non-stop over there for the past hour. You’re pining.”

“Ok, I’ll give you that, but I’m not pining. It’s more of I’m second guessing myself.”

“Oh no.”

“…Yes.”

“You _told_ her? Why?”

“It wasn’t quite like that; she told me first. Turns out she _also_ has feelings for me, and I kind of found out by accident because she was afraid that I’d figured it out and that I was offended by her liking me, but then we kinda hooked up, and while I definitely enjoyed it, I’m wondering now if that was really the best idea.”

“You slept with your research assistant?!”

“Yeah?”

“You two are going to be spending the summer in a cramped camper in New Mexico and doing some really technical research on theoretical space phenomena, and you slept together already? And you can’t see how that _might_ be a bad idea?”

“Actually, I can now, but I don’t know, I wasn’t thinking straight at the time. Pun intended.”

“Jane, how can you be so good at your studies, but so bad when it comes to people?”

“I don’t know,” Jane said, dramatically closing her laptop and slumping down in her chair.

“Well,” Claire sighed. “You’re gonna have to figure out how you’re going to deal with the fallout—and don’t try telling me there won’t be fallout if you’re having regrets. You can’t exactly un-sleep with her, and if she’s got strong feelings too, then this could be a real big mess.”

“What was I supposed to do when she told me?”

“Have you never heard of taking things slow to start? Getting coffee? Going on a few dates before jumping straight ahead to getting into each other’s pants?”

A guilty silence fell between Jane and Claire.

“I’m going to take that as meaning no, it did not occur to you.”

“No, not really,” Jane admitted. “I was excited. After finally coming to terms and finally actually _letting_ myself be bi, there’s a cute girl who likes me back, and I jumped at the opportunity.”

“So now what? Are you going to try to pretend like nothing’s changed?” Claire asked pointedly.

“I don’t know, probably. I don’t want to break things off, but I do want to try to figure out where this is headed,” Jane said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

\----------------------------

Darcy was sitting in her seat already, chin in hand and an abstracted look on her face, tapping her pen against her notebook, when Bucky arrived to class. He sat down next to her and pulled his laptop out of his bag to get ready to take notes. He greeted her as usual. She didn’t respond.

“Hey, Darcy,” Bucky tried again, leaning over to wave his hand in her face.

Darcy swatted at his hand but said nothing.

“You coming down with something?” Bucky asked. “You’re never this quiet.”

Darcy mumbled something incoherent.

“I didn’t catch that?”

“I think I fucked up,” Darcy replied more clearly, but quietly enough that only he would hear.

“About what? Wanna talk about it at lunch?”

“Not really, but it can’t make it any worse, can it?”

“I don’t know what ‘it’ is, but it probably can’t hurt.”

\--------

“Alright, spill,” Bucky said, watching Darcy poke morosely at her ravioli.

“I think I pushed Jane too fast,” Darcy said, slowly squashing a pasta until the cheese filling oozed out. “Like, I’ve passed her in the halls a couple times since this weekend, and I waved at her, but she didn’t respond. The first time I thought maybe she just hadn’t seen me, but the second time I said hi, too, and I know she noticed me she still didn’t say hi or wave back. What if she’s second guessing if she’s actually attracted to me?”

“Ok, that’s a little concerning, but it’s not the end of the world,” Bucky said.

“You’ve got a meeting this evening, right?” Steve asked. “You could ask her then.”

“Oh no, oh no, I couldn’t,” Darcy said, pulling her beanie down like she was trying to hide in it.

“Why not?” Steve prodded.

“She clearly doesn’t want to talk to me, and her research is so important to her, I can’t go because then I’ll just make things awkward. I don’t want to be a nuisance.”

“Look, you’re making an assumption that she doesn’t want to talk to you. Maybe she was just distracted earlier,” Steve said. “Communication is important, trust me on this. Bucky and I, we’ve each got some personal issues, but we talk to each other. That way if I say something without knowing that it makes him uncomfortable, he tells me, we talk, and I try to do better. And vice versa.”

“So you’re going to your meeting, right?” Bucky asked, his voice urging her to reconsider her earlier statement.

“Maybe,” Darcy said and shoved a forkful of ravioli in her mouth to avoid having to reply further.

“Please go, please talk to her. It’s better to get this out of the way as soon as possible so it doesn’t start to fester,” Bucky said.

\-----------------------

“I haven’t seen or heard anything from Miss Lewis all evening,” Dr. Selvig commented when Jane got up from her calculations to stretch. “She was very distracted last week, and I know I missed the meeting the week before that, but given how _you_ were acting the next day, I would hazard a guess that she was also distracted then, too. I know it’s awfully late in the semester to think about changing things up, but you might want to think about if it would be possible to do your research without her if she’s going to come down unreliable this late in the game.”

“Darcy’s not unreliable. She’s not feeling well, that’s why she’s been a little off and why she’s not here tonight,” Jane lied. She hadn’t _actually_ heard anything from Darcy about missing tonight’s meeting, but she wasn’t about to let Dr. Selvig get back onto his old rhetoric. 

“Oh, well, I guess that’s alright,” Dr. Selvig replied, somewhat reluctantly.

“Yeah, she didn’t want to share whatever it is she’s got or thinks she’s got,” Jane said casually as she got back to her work. “She’ll be back next week if she’s feeling better.”

\-------------------------

Natasha wasn’t expecting any calls tonight. She checked her phone’s caller ID. Bucky? She answered.

“Hello, Bucky. Does Clint need me? Is he doing something stupid and you need me to take him away from your room tonight?” Natasha asked.

“Hey, Nat. No, it’s not Clint for a change. You know Darcy’s room number, right?” Bucky asked. “I know she promised that she’d go to her meeting tonight and talk to Jane, I’m getting a nagging feeling that she probably only said she would to get me and Steve to stop bugging her about the importance of proper communication in a relationship. I’d go myself, but if she sees me out the peep-hole, she won’t answer. You might have better luck.”

“Yes, I know her room,” Natasha replied. “I’ll go check on her.”

“Thanks, you’re the best,” Bucky said. “Clint sends his love.”


	10. Chapter 10

Darcy and Alyssa both looked up at the same time when they heard the knock on their door. 

“Probably the RA with another noise complaint about your screaming,” Alyssa teased. “I’ll get the door.”

“That was _one_ time,” Darcy groaned and ducked her head back down to her textbook.

“Hi, uh, do I know you?” Darcy heard Alyssa asking. “Wait, no, you can’t just come in here, hey, Darcy, is this one of your friends?”

Before Darcy had a chance to respond, Natasha’s hand was on her shoulder.

“I thought you had a meeting tonight?” Natasha asked pointedly.

“Yeah, so did I, but I didn’t want to say anything,” Alyssa said, keeping a wary distance from Natasha.

“I didn’t feel like going,” Darcy replied flatly, looking at Natasha’s hand and hoping she’d take the hint.

Natasha did not. Instead, she hooked her hands under Darcy’s arms and hauled her to her feet.

“Hey!” Darcy yelped. “You can’t do that!”

“Your friends are worried about you. Jane makes you happy, and we’re all reasonably certain whatever’s happening now can be figured out if you two actually talk it over. Or at the very least, if it can’t, then you’ll know for sure and feel better about it for having talked about it,” Natasha said. “Do you have your keys on you? Grab them, grab your phone, grab your purse, I’m taking you to the physics lounge. You’re going to wait there until Jane’s meeting is over, at which point I will bring her along with me. If you run away, I will find you and you will regret it. Understood?”

Darcy nodded rapidly, unable to speak.

“Good,” Natasha said with a little smile. “Come along, now.”

Darcy glanced over her shoulder at Alyssa as Natasha steered her out of the room. Eyes wide, Alyssa gave her a terrified ‘good luck’ thumbs up.

\------------------

The physics lounge would usually be bustling at this time of the evening at this time of the semester, but when Natasha marched in, doing her best murder-strut, dragging Darcy behind her by her scarf, and ordered the room cleared in her heaviest accent, everyone quickly began packing their things to leave. Natasha deposited Darcy on the couch and asked what classroom Jane’s meeting was held in. Darcy was almost tempted to not answer, but, one, Natasha could be really scary when she wanted to, and two, she really did want things to work out between her and Jane, even if she wasn’t sure how to do it the right way. She pulled her phone out and started browsing Instagram.

Some indeterminate time later (Darcy had kind of stopped paying attention to the clock), Natasha pushed the physics lounge door back open and pulled Jane after her. Jane was otherwise silent, but giving Natasha a very suspicious look.

“Alright, you’re both here,” Natasha said. “Jane, please take a seat. Darcy, please put your phone away. Now. Talk.”

Both Darcy and Jane stared at Natasha, unsure of quite how to proceed.

“Ok then, I’ll go first,” Natasha said, grabbing a beanbag chair and settling it in front of the couch. She sat down, looking sharply at Darcy and Jane. “We are here tonight for the following reasons. Jane: while I don’t have a first-hand account, apparently you did not acknowledge Darcy when she said hi to you at least two times, which caused Darcy to believe that she had done something wrong. Darcy: you were asked to go to your meeting as scheduled tonight and talk to Jane to see what was wrong; you instead decided to stay in your dorm where I found you after having been dispatched to make sure you had gone to your meeting as you had promised. Jane, I would like to hear your explanation of what happened.”

“Uhhh,” Jane stalled. “I guess I was a little distracted, sorry.”

“I think there’s probably more to that story, but let’s move onto Darcy for the time being,” Natasha said, turning to Darcy.

“What do you want me to say?” Darcy asked. “I skipped the meeting. I wasn’t feeling up to it.”

“Yes, and? Please go on,” Natasha prompted. “Why weren’t you feeling up to it?”

“I didn’t want to be a nuisance,” Darcy muttered.

“What? You’re not a nuisance,” Jane said, turning to Darcy. “You’ve been a real help to me with my research.”

“Yeah, up until we…” Darcy glanced over at Natasha.

“I think I can make a pretty good guess about what you two did, but if it makes you feel better, we don’t have to speak of it by name,” Natasha said quickly.

“Thanks,” Darcy said. Jane nodded her agreement.

“So, up until you two…” Natasha made a ‘go on’ hand gesture.

“Ok,” Darcy began again. “Before you-know-what, everything was fine. After you-know-what,” she turned to Jane, “well, you’ve been withdrawn, like you don’t want me around. And the only thing I can think of is that you’ve realized you either don’t actually feel like that about me specifically, or about women in general. And while I’d love to keep being your assistant—I really like your project—I don’t want to stay around if I’m only gonna make you uncomfortable. And I really do like you, so there’s that.”

“I know you do,” Jane replied, “and that’s part of why I’m feeling so conflicted right now. I think made a few mistakes along the way, moved too fast…”

“You’re breaking up with me?” Darcy’s face fell.

“No! No, I’m not breaking up with you, I just feel like I need a bit of a do-over,” Jane amended, reaching over and taking Darcy’s hand in hers. She gave it what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze.

“What do you mean by do-over?” Darcy asked cautiously.

“Like, go on a few low-stakes dates, pretend like we haven’t already,” Jane hummed out a couple syllables. “Talk about ourselves, talk about what we like, other than physics and each other. Like my roommate said, go out for coffee first and take things slow like normal people do.”

“Ok, yeah, I feel that,” Darcy nodded.

“Get back to that stage of friends where yeah, we _could_ be dating, but we could also just be really good friends,” Jane said.

“Ah yes, the ‘gal pals’ stage of friendship,” Darcy laughed and made air quotes around the phrase. “Well, if you want to go on that coffee date you spoke of, I think I know where we can go. Do you like cupcakes?”

“Who _doesn’t_ like cupcakes?” Jane grinned.

“Good, then that’s settled,” Darcy said.

“I’ll leave you two to make your plans,” Natasha said, getting up from her beanbag.


	11. Chapter 11

Darcy brought the coffees and cupcakes out to the little table on the sidewalk where Jane was seated. She passed Jane her cookies-and-cream cupcake and vanilla latte and set her own double chocolate cupcake and triple espresso down and added a couple packets of sugar to her drink.

“You sure you need all that caffeine?” Jane teased.

“How do you think I keep up my public persona?” Darcy teased back. “Take a look at your coffee.”

“Aww, you got them to do a moon and stars? Thank you,” Jane said and leaned over the table to give Darcy a quick peck.

“I would have asked for an Einstein-Rosen bridge for you, but I don’t think that’s exactly a popular latte art request.”

“Speaking of lattes, in 2002, a group of astronomers from Johns Hopkins figured out the average color of the universe, all the stars and everything averaged together. They called it ‘cosmic latte’,” Jane said, slowly peeling the wrapper off her cupcake.

“I didn’t know that, that’s cool,” Darcy said. “Did you know? When I started college, I was actually a dance major.”

“Dance? Really? And how’d you go from dance to physics?”

“It’s kind of a long story.”

“I’ve got all afternoon.”


End file.
